When my German spiritual father Reiner Vincenz was a missionary in Paris France, he said to me that he had always loved France very much. That’s why he came here as a missionary to share new spiritual insights revealed by God in order to bring peace and establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. He fasted and prayed for France with sincere tears and repentance for my country, loving my people. He also said that the funny thing in France is that there are rules and laws like in every country, but in France there is always another law or rule that contradicts the first one.
I will come back to my spiritual father’s life in another Insight Story. Today I want to share my experience in traveling in Europe, and laws and rules from different places.
In France you cannot imagine the train controller kicking you out of the train if you happen to have no ticket or if you lost your ticket. They will give you another one, plus fees.
In Hungary if you are retired, trains are free. In fact, Gisela, my sister-in-law, and I were planning to travel from Austria through Hungary all the way to Ukraine and the Soviet Union. But this trip never happened.
One day I was traveling from the Vienna woods to Vienna city by a most sleek modern fast train. As I was using the ladies’ room suddenly someone was banging on the door like they were searching for a murderer or something similar. I was so startled and scared. It was the most unfriendly train controller I ever met to this day; I remember him well. in Germany and Austria, where they speak German as well, do not think of bending any rule.
One year arriving in Europe through Italy, landing in Torino close enough to my hometown in the French Alps, I had no ticket as I was late. When I took out my American credit card to pay for my ticket, the controller suddenly became ecstatic: “Oh America, the country of my dreams! For you it is free! No need to buy a ticket!” That day the rules did not apply.
Ahh Italy! Les Italians, mes cousins! Savoie was part of Italy in the past, and then became the Kingdom of Savoie, le Royaume de Savoie. That’s why I also have Italian ancestors and love Italy so much. Italian songs make me cry, and the Italian spirit warms my heart. But I became American in heart because my family has been living here for more than forty years. My kids are American, Canadian, and French. That’s why we love the whole world, even the strict Austrians and Germans who need the French to melt their hearts.
We are supposed to love each other and our different cultures and origins. “We love our neighbor as ourself.” We have the same Heavenly Parent, and are we not here to finally open the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.?
That’s why my German spiritual father came to France in the sixties. That’s why my true love is a handsome Austrian. And this is why we grow in our life to become a better loving person who learns to love others, resembling our Heavenly Parent.
Your friend, Elisabeth Seidel